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Hello, everyone! Back in 2005, the wife and I bought 1.75 acres of land just south of Bull Shoals and the Bull Shoals Dam. It's east of Fairway on a Marion County road. Some of you may be familiar with that area.

To make a long story short, we had originally planned to build a small home on the parcel and to retire there. As often happens, several other things that have occurred in the ensuing years have served to muddle the plans a bit, and create some indecision.

But, my main concern at this point is that the town of Bull Shoals and its surrounding areas seem to have stagnated. The expected influx of new retirees that we heard about in the early 2000's never seemed to materialize, and properties now seem to sit on the market, without buyers, for months and even years.

So, what happened? Personally, the idea of living in such a quiet, laid back place still appeals to me. I am NOT one of those folks who needs theater and music and bars and nightlife to have a good time. My idea of a good time can be something as simple as sitting and watching the sun go down over a mountain, and I am often anxious to escape the madhouse of traffic and city bustle that is our home base in KC. But, I don't want to saddle our kids, after we pass, with a property that sits vacant for months and months.

I'm not really looking for advice as much as I am some insight from folks who have lived in the area for some time. In any case, thanks for hanging in there and have a great day!

Larry,
You and I seem to have like interests. I'm over crowds, traffic, and night life too. I've been looking around Mountain Home, and your area for awhile, for houses or property. We haven't been there yet, just looking on line. Feel free to message me. If the price is right, might take it off your hands. Lol

Just a theory. A lot changed since the early 2000's. At that time, we were in a real estate bubble. After the recession, not everything fell back into place like it was before.
Personally, I find the area slightly too crowded for that kind of life, or just badly developed making it feel that way, but other people seem to still like it regardless.

So, what happened? Personally, the idea of living in such a quiet, laid back place still appeals to me.

It's a lovely area, but mostly tourists visit there. The problem with small towns is the lack of businesses and work. If you were to pass the home along to your children, what jobs would they work in the surrounding areas? I absolutely love Mountain Home and the surrounding areas, but the lack of jobs makes it extremely difficult to make a living. I've lived there for almost two years and the paychecks were not great at all. The best chance to live in those areas is to have a college education and job in the medical field. The hospital, especially in Mountain Home, is superior to most of the surrounding area. You have to make your decision based off of your own needs and your children's needs, and not an article or two saying that people will retire there.

You have to also note that meth is on the rise in those areas, so petty theft and vandalism is slightly on the rise in the Mountain Home area. Overall though, Mountain Home / Cotter / Bull Shoals / and the entire North Central / Northwest Arkansas area is on my places to retire list. The Ozarks are beautiful and the small town sizes fits into everything I want. We'll see what it looks like by the time I'm near retirement age.

It's a lovely area, but mostly tourists visit there. The problem with small towns is the lack of businesses and work. If you were to pass the home along to your children, what jobs would they work in the surrounding areas? I absolutely love Mountain Home and the surrounding areas, but the lack of jobs makes it extremely difficult to make a living. I've lived there for almost two years and the paychecks were not great at all. The best chance to live in those areas is to have a college education and job in the medical field. The hospital, especially in Mountain Home, is superior to most of the surrounding area. You have to make your decision based off of your own needs and your children's needs, and not an article or two saying that people will retire there.

You have to also note that meth is on the rise in those areas, so petty theft and vandalism is slightly on the rise in the Mountain Home area. Overall though, Mountain Home / Cotter / Bull Shoals / and the entire North Central / Northwest Arkansas area is on my places to retire list. The Ozarks are beautiful and the small town sizes fits into everything I want. We'll see what it looks like by the time I'm near retirement age.

I completely agree on the jobs comments. Where I live is even less population and jobs. Many people would love to live in these areas but that is what stops them. You either have to work out of town, travel type jobs or own your own business that can survive such as something to taps into the tourism market. It's possible but it's not so much for 9 to 5'ers.

Yes, houses are very low priced, the scenery is beautiful, but when the city leaders tout....." we are no longer just a retirement area" I always state........" attracting younger, unemployed people to an area that has no jobs is a recipe for disaster "

Yes, houses are very low priced, the scenery is beautiful, but when the city leaders tout....." we are no longer just a retirement area" I always state........" attracting younger, unemployed people to an area that has no jobs is a recipe for disaster "

I've never been there, just heard about it and that it's a popular retirement area. An older man I work with, his wife wanted to move there for retirement. They drove there and said it was too populated for them, lol.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read my post and reply. Back in 2005, we knew that jobs would be a problem. That is why we bought with an eye for retirement. We will both be retiring at the end of this year, so finding employment suitable to sustain us will not be an issue. Right now, we're both in reasonably good health, but, we want to be close to decent healthcare. Mountain Home would provide that.

When we first started to spend time in the Ozarks, we fell in love with Newton County and the area between Harrison and Jasper. For several years, we vacationed in a place that had individual cabins on the side of a mountain, just north of Jasper. The tranquility and peacefulness of the place, especially in the early morning, was like a tonic to us. None of the things that occupied our thoughts during the normal day back at home seemed to matter any longer. But, as much as we loved it, that area was TOO remote and too far from essential services to consider as a home.

Then, we found Bull Shoals. It seemed like a good compromise. Still plenty of peace and quiet, and just a few minutes to Flippin, Yellville and Mountain Home. When we bought our property, the magazines were full of glowing reports about the "undiscovered" Ozarks, and how they were beginning to appeal to people in the upper midwest as retirement locations. People in New York and New Jersey move to Florida. People in Wisconsin and the Chicago area were starting to move to the Ozarks. Land was really cheap, so, we bought to beat the rush. Then, nothing happened...

For the last couple of years, we've been watching real estate around Bull Shoals and Mountain Home. Especially in Bull Shoals, homes seem to sit in the listings for months and months. Some of them eventually disappear, and I don't know if they finally sell, or if the owners just lose hope, give up and take them off the market.

Assuming that we were to live there when we passed, it would not be an option for our daughters to move into our home. They would become responsible for the sale of it, however, and for any future mortgage payments. THAT is what I want to avoid. I don't want my home to become a burden and an expense to them because there are no buyers in the area.

So...we're considering just trying to sell the land. But, in the minds of both my wife and myself, it still pulls at us. We feel like if we were ever going to do what we've longed to do for so long, this is our chance.

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